Mixer for liquid fuels



June 23, 1959 J. P. CLARK MIXER FOR LIQUID FUELS Filed April 12, 1957 INVENTOR.

C LA? K ATTORNEYS United States Patent MIXER FOR LIQUID FUELS John P. Clark, Bridgeport, Conn.

Application April 12, 1957, Serial No. 652,406

1 Claim. (Cl. 137-544) This invention relates to fuel mixing devices, and more particularly has reference to a fuel mixer that is particularly designated to insure the mixing of oil and gasoline, or of other different types of liquid fuels, in a manner such that they will be completely and uniformly intermixed, in exactly proportioned amounts.

'One important object of the present invention is to provide a fuel mixer that will be capable of assembly at a relatively low cost, while still being more efliciently adapted for its intended purposes than previous mixers in use.

Another object is to provide .a fuel mixer which will incorporate filtering and agitating means, thereby to insure to the maximum extent the complete and uniform commingling of the fuels, simultaneously With filtering of foreign substances therefrom. -Another object is to provide a fuel mixer which will be of funnel-like properties, so as to be insertable in a selected container, to effectively commingle the fuels during the deposit of the fuels in the container, the device being adapted, in this regard, for insertion directly into the filler neck of a gasol inetank. In this connection, it may be observed that it is common practice to pour into a gasoline tank special oils, valve-cleaning compounds, etc., and the invention is designed to insure the complete intermixture of these liquid products with the gasoline, within the tank, before any of the gasoline is drawn from the tank or combustion within the vehicle engine.

Another object is to permit the intermixing of various oils, compounds, etc. in the gasoline used for fueling the engine of a vehcile, simultaneously with the filling of the fuel tank of the vehicle with the gasoline.

Another object is to provide a fuel mixer which will be so designed as to normally prevent the passage of one of the fluids being mixed into the conduit through which the other fluid is flowing, the device being adapted to initiate the commingling of the fluids during passage thereof into a container responsive merely to a quarterturn of one tubular component of the device relative to another tubular component extending therethrough.

Another object is to achieve the results stated immediately above while maintaining the cost of the device at a minimum.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claim appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l is a top plan of a fuel mixing device according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through said device in which portions remain in elevation, a container into which the liquids are being poured being illustrated fragmentan'ly and in dotted lines, and a hose through which one of the liquids is being directed also being illustrated fragmentarily and in dotted lines;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on line 33 of Figure 2 in which the parts are arranged to permit intermixing of the liquids;

1 2,891,572 Patented June 23, 1959 Figure 4 is a view like Figure 3 in which the component parts are closed on from each other to prevent mixing of the liquids confined therein; and

Fig. 5 is an exploded view of the component parts of the assembly.

Referring to the drawings in detail, an upwardly opening, cylindrical, large diameter, cup-like receptacle 10 includes a shallowly frustro-conical bottom end wall 12 having a center opening 14.

A sleeve 16 has an inner diameter matching the diameter of opening 14 as best shown in Figure 2, and extends axially within receptacle 10, with the upper end of the sleeve projecting a short distance above the plane of the open top of the receptacle, and the lower end of the sleeve seating upon the bottom Wall 14.

A rigid conduit 18 extends through opening 14, and is sealably, permanently secured to the edge of the opening, as by a weld. Conduit 18, at its lower end, preferably has a reduced, axial extension 20, forming an internal shoulder 21 within the conduit on which seats a cylindrical filter cartridge 22. Cartridge 22 can be a mass of cotton wadding or the like, and can be removed and replaced as necessary. The upper end of the cartridge is disposed substantially in the plane of the opening 14 as shown in Figure 2.

In the upper end of the conduit 18 there is adapted to seat a gasket 24 of neoprene rubber or the like, the purpose of the gasket being to extend about a fuel nozzle, so that the fuel mixture may be introduced either by gravity feed with the gasket removed, or by a vacuum feed with the gasket in place.

The gasket, at diametrically opposite locations, has outwardly opening, small notches 26 (Figure 5) receiving diametrically opposed, integral ears 28, 30 formed upon the upper extremity of the conduit 18. Ear 28 extends straight upwardly from the conduit but ear 30 is bent laterally degrees relative to the ear 28, so as to lie in a plane normal to the length of the conduit 18 in a position extending radially outwardly from the conduit as shown in Figure 5.

Integrally formed upon the upper end of the sleeve 16 are diametrically opposed, radially outwardly extending cars 32, lying in a common plane which is also the plane of the upper end of the tube or sleeve 16. In this connection, the outer diameter of the conduit 18 substantially matches the inner diameter of the sleeve 16, with the sleeve 16 being fitted upon that portion of conduit 18 that extends upwardly from the bottom wall 12 of the receptacle 10, the sleeve being coextensive in length with said upwardly projecting portion of the conduit 18 and being freely rotatable upon the conduit.

In the lower end of sleeve 16 there are formed diametrically opposite, rectangular notches or openings 34 each extending through a predetermined number of degrees, circumferentially of the sleeve 16 as shown to best advantage in Figure 4. In the conduit 18 there are formed correspondingly diametrically opposed, rectangular apertures 36. Thus, on rotation of the sleeve to one position (Figure 3) the notches 34 are registered with the openings or apertures 36', so that a liquid A confined with the receptacle 10 will be free to flow inwardly through the registering notches and openings into the conduit 18, to be intermixed with a liquid introduced into the conduit by means of a nozzle 38.

A container 40 is illustrated in Figure 2, and has an upwardly projecting filled neck 42, adapted to receive the depending portion of the conduit 18, and adapted also to provide a support for the receptacle 10. Of course, the container can be any suitable container, and it is even possible that it may be the fuel tank of an automobile, with a suitable connection being made between 3 the extension 20 and the filler neck of the vehicle, if

necessary.

In any event, when the tube 16 is rotated 90 degrees from its Figure 3 position, the notches 34 are angularly spaced 90 degrees from the apertures 36, out of register therewith, thus closing the apertures and preventing flow of the liquid A into the conduit 18.

In use of the device, it will be assumed that it is desired to intermix a quart of oil with a predetermined amount of gasoline. In this connection, the wall of the receptacle it} could of course be provided with vertically spaced calibrations, designating different quantities of liquids, in the manner of a measuring cup. After a predetermined amount of the oil has been poured into the receptacle it) with the openings 36 closed, a nozzle of a gasoline fuel tank can be introduced into the upper end of the conduit 18. If gravity feed is desired, gasket 24 is removed. If vacuum feed is desired, the gasket is left in place.

In this connection, it will be noted that one ear 28 projects upwardly and one ear 30 projects laterally outwardly from the upper end of the conduit. The outwardly projecting ear 30 prevents removal of the sleeve 16, and cooperates with the bottom wall 12 in holding the sleeve 16 against axial displacement relative to the conduit 18.

As the gasoline flows out of the nozzle 38, the sleeve 16 is rotated to its Figure 3 position, so that the oil is drawn into the conduit 18, becoming effectively and completely intermixed with the gasoline, at a predetermined rate of a selected amount of oil to a selected amount of gasoline flowing into the container 40. The intermixing of the oil and gasoline will be even more etficiently brought about by reason of the fact that the filter 22 is disposed just below the point of commingling of the two liquids, so as to cause the liquids to be efiectively intermixed as they pass through the filter.

Another feature found desirable in the arrangement is in the use of the laterally extending ear 30 not only as an abutment, but also as a guide or index aiding in determination of whether the sleeve is in proper position. The construction is one in which the sleeve can be turned in a manner to cause the ears 32 to be aligned with the car 30, or on the other hand extended in a line normal to the line of the ear 30, according to whether the openings 34, 36 are to be brought into register or, on the other hand, are to be misaligned for the purpose of preventing intermixing of the liquids.

The device has, of course, general utility whenever liquids are to be intermixed, and has the further desirable characteristic that a full and complete, uniform commingling of the liquids is effected, simultaneously with a thorough separation of the liquids from foreign materials. Further, the construction is also desirable in that it permits a low cost assembly of the parts, and facilitates replacement of any components, as necessary.

It is believed clear that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A device for mixing first and second liquids, comprising: a conduit having an inlet end through which a first liquid may pass into the conduit; a receptacle for a second liquid, circumposed about and rigidly connected to the conduit, the conduit having an aperture communicating with the receptacle; a sleeve rotatably mounted on the conduit and having an opening registrable with the aperture in one position to which the sleeve is rotated, the receptacle including an end wall against which the sleeve abuts, said end wall engaging the sleeve against axial movement on the conduit in one direction; an ear projecting radially outwardly from the conduit in abutting relation to the other end of the sleeve, said ear engaging the sleeve against movement axially of the conduit in the opposite direction, the sleeve having a radial ear at said other end thereof registering with the first ear in a position to which the sleeve is rotated to provide, in cooperation with the first ear, guide means aiding in determining the relative positions of the aperture and opening; a second ear on the conduit angularly spaced from the first ear thereof, the ears of the conduit being formed as longitudinal projections on the inlet end of the conduit; and an annular gasket seating in said inlet end of the conduit and having angularly spaced notches receiving the ears of the conduit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 744,927 May Nov. 24, 1903 1,190,713 Bokof July 11, 1916 1,758,761 Qulia May 13, 1930 1,782,197 Graaf Nov. 18, 1930 2,622,928 Misch Dec. 23, 1952 

